Time flew by, and before he knew it, it was already noon. As Killer Bee walked out of the Ninja Academy, he still felt as if he were in a dream.
"Big Brother Bee, this is for you."
"Thanks." Killer Bee thanked him as he took the lunchbox. He had no intention of refusing a free meal. After all, his monthly allowance wasn't exactly generous! It barely covered his basic monthly expenses. Sometimes he even had to save up for months just to buy clothes. More importantly, he hadn't eaten anything for breakfast today, so within a few minutes, he devoured the entire lunchbox clean.
Phew. Killer Bee let out a breath. The rice was exceptionally delicious—definitely the best he had ever eaten. As for the meat, it was crispy and flavorful, but even after finishing it all, he still couldn't figure out what kind of meat it was. He wanted to ask, but felt it might make him look suspicious, so he simply sat silently on a bench under a tree after finishing his meal.
Motoi found Big Brother Bee's behavior a bit strange today. Although Bee insisted he was fine, Motoi still felt that something was off. He had never seen Bee so quiet before. All morning, if Motoi hadn't spoken first, Bee wouldn't have said a word—just like right now.
He didn't know why, but looking at Bee sitting there so silently and somewhat lonely, Motoi suddenly felt a sense of isolation. Bee was sitting right beside him, yet he felt strangely distant.
It was a feeling Motoi couldn't understand.
"Hey, it's Lord Raikage and Lord A!"
Ah! A wave of screams suddenly rang out.
The loud cries of excitement jolted Killer Bee awake. "A," he muttered. Isn't that his future big brother? Killer Bee couldn't help but look in that direction. Soon, he saw three figures approaching.
Among them, the one at the back was a one-eyed ninja. The other two were tall, muscular men with white hair. The one in front with long white hair was the current Raikage, and the one following him closely was his son, A.
This matched the information in Killer Bee's original memories. But what were they doing at the academy?
As if hearing his murmurs, Motoi asked curiously, "Big Brother Bee, you don't know?"
"No. You do?"
"Of course," Motoi explained. "Whenever Lord Raikage and Lord A appear at the academy together, it means it's time to choose the next person to inherit the codename B."
"The AB combo… that's the original duo of A and Bee from the manga," thought Killer Bee.
The three figures gradually disappeared from sight, but many students were still discussing the AB combo long after.
It's a shame that lower-year students like us aren't eligible to participate in the selection for the next B. Otherwise, I'd give it a try too.
Exactly! Let's hope no one is selected this year either. That way, we still have a shot at becoming B!
While the other students buzzed with excitement, Killer Bee remained calm. After all, in the original story, he was the one who inherited the title of B. Even if his arrival had caused the plot to shift, he wasn't worried. His goal was to complete the main quest given to him by the Lord God. Everything else was secondary.
Time continued to slip through his fingers. On May 15, Year 33 of the Konoha Calendar, an extraordinary year had arrived.
After a year of intense training, Killer Bee's mastery over his Sage Chakra had reached Chūnin level. He had already learned techniques like tree climbing and walking on water. But he didn't stop there—he also borrowed training methods from Hunter x Hunter, like coating stones with chakra and smashing them against other rocks to refine control. At this point, not only could he crush 200 stones, but he had also reached a bottleneck in his control over natural lightning.
It's worth noting that the amount of Sage Chakra he stored in his body had already reached an average Chūnin's level. But what made him anxious was that once he reached that level, his body stopped absorbing natural energy on its own. It was as if he had reached a bottleneck he couldn't break through.
Within the inner areas of the Hidden Cloud Village, a boy cloaked in lightning dashed through the steep canyons and streams surrounding the village, leaping and bounding like a blur. To the naked eye, he was nothing more than a streak of blue lightning flashing rapidly through the valleys.
As he sprinted, Killer Bee suddenly glanced up at the sun's position, then spun around and rushed back toward the village. A few minutes later, he arrived at the village gate, skillfully handing over his resident ID to the guard. After a brief inspection, he was allowed entry and walked calmly into the village.
On the way, he grabbed some breakfast and then made his way to his friend Motoi's house.
"Good morning, Big Brother Bee."
"Morning."
Before Bee could even knock, Motoi ran out to greet him. After exchanging greetings, the two strolled slowly toward the academy.
"Look, it's Senior Bee! He's so cool!"
"Yeah! Bee-senpai is amazing—ahh! He looked at me!" a girl squealed, her face turning red.
"What do you mean 'looked at you'?" another girl pouted. "Clearly, he looked at me!"
"No, me!"
"Wrong—it was totally me!"
In just a moment, the two girls were arguing.
"Tch," a nearby little boy muttered. "What's so cool about acting all tough? I can do that too."
"Haha, you compare yourself to Senior Bee?" one of the blushing girls suddenly turned hostile and snapped, "You only managed to refine chakra at five years old! I bet you can't even use the basic Three Techniques yet! Bee mastered them by age four. Not to mention he skipped the intermediate class and went straight to the advanced class—he's a genius!"
"Yeah," another girl added. "You'll be lucky to graduate by twelve."
"You... you girls..." the boy's face turned red with anger. "I… I'll work hard! I'll definitely surpass him—just wait and see!" Then he stormed off.
"Hmph, trash is trash. There's no way you'll ever catch up to Bee-senpai."
...
Just like that, the little drama ended. At the entrance to the lower-level classroom, Motoi turned to Killer Bee and said, "See you after class, Big Brother Bee."
"Sure, see you then." Killer Bee waved and turned toward the advanced class building.
Unlike Killer Bee, Motoi had refined his chakra, but he hadn't passed the written exams yet, so he was still attending classes in the lower-level division.